A little bit slow

A quick catch up. The living room construction was far more disruptive than I imagined it would be. I'm still catching up. The skirting boards have been purchased and I've spent this week figuring out how to stain them, now that it cannot be done out-of-doors. I tried putting a space heater in the basement to get the temp to round 60F but it's way too insufficient. That has made me dream about getting another wood stove for the basement... ooh, the expense. There is another chimney with access in the basement, so it would be most doable. I'll keep my eyes open. I think the space is about 24' x 36', entirely open, and soon to be completely empty because it's too damp to keep anything down there. But for now I've decided to use the spare room/craft room, upstairs, which can easily be brought up to 60F with a small heater. That room is closed off during the winter to make heating my room and the main rooms easier. But I don't think it gets below 50 in there as a rule, nothing a space heater can't warm. Besides, I only need a few hours of ambient temps to get these boards stained.

I am doing a tiny bit of spinning, next post will have pics. And just a smidge of knitting, pics to come.

Second sock is in the works but has spent most of the past few weeks lounging on the center table in the living room.

My Christmas mushrooms are all painted and finished, so garlands can be made. Visuals in the next post.

I'm dying to open the tin containing the Christmas cake to have a whiff, but I'll wait. Won't be long now.

The soap I made in late summer has cured to being useable. I love it. Dare I say it's my new favorite recipe?

It's that time of year again... the wood stove is lit. Oh so cozy.

 11 p.m. I just went out to get some wood for the stove. The frosty air splashes the face, smelling salts pale. Deep breath in. The tall wheat-colored and brown grasses and skeletons of Goldenrod glisten, jeweled with frost. The stars twinkle. The cold clears the air. It's very quiet. Last night I heard a Barred Owl across the road when I went to fetch the mail after dark. I wonder if it's nearby this evening. Sometimes I think I should put a wood box in the house and fill it during the day so I don't have to go out at 11 pm for more wood. But I'd lose this beautiful experience. I probably will get one, but not let it stop me from going out to drink deeply of this world's beauty.

Knitting chaos

Chaos socks are what I'm knitting. The idea came to me via Etienne's channel on YouTube, Etienne . He's been knitting up a pair of socks by using up yarn leftovers in random stranded patterns.

Picking colors blindly from a box full of yarns--2 for each pattern, and picking the pattern by tossing a die.

I've got a box of yarn bits and bobs and I pick two for each 5-row band. I don't have a die to generate a random number so I'm using an online random number generator (which randomness is always iffy, but the site I'm using advertises itself as truly random--random.org. I'm dubious because of the first 10 numbers I drew, 5 of them are in the 40s! Hm.)

Random bits of left over yarns

 

I am selecting the fair isle patterns for my socks from a book in my library called, "Traditional Fair Isle Knitting" (c) 1981 by Sheila McGregor. The book is an encyclopedia of patterns. I'm sticking to the 3-row patterns with a solid line above and below, making a total of 5 rows per pattern.

Most of the yarns I'm choosing from are around DK weight, some a little heavier, some a little lighter. This first sock--experimental, to see if it fits--has 48 stitches cast on and I'm knitting in size 4 needles. I think it's looking pretty good so far, fit wise. Only time will tell.

 A fun knit.

 

On Top of the Game

I'm so on top of the game this year, I surprise myself!

Today, I made the Christmas cake and the filling for the tourtiere. The house smelled so good! The cake will get triple wrapped and put in a tin to age for a few months. The tourtiere filling is already in the freezer.

I made Marion's (from Marion's World YouTube channel) recipe again. It was a great success last year but this year I left it in the oven for an extra half hour to ensure a thorough baking. Can't wait to dig into it, alas, a few months away.

The tourtiere filling is my own take, based heavily on what I grew up with. Allspice is the predominate spice with plenty of black pepper. Here it is simmering down.

An update on the living room wall. The contractor finished his work but I waited a week before painting because the paint store was having a sale that started yesterday. 40% off, and I wanted to take advantage of it because at $93/gallon, that's quite a big savings. This is what it looked like when he left. Just today, I primed the walls. Tomorrow I'll start with the paint.

Due to the house being in such a state, what with wool and wheels moved all over, there hasn't been a lot accomplished on the fiber side of things. A bit of spindle spinning here and there, but that's about it.

Oh! I forgot to mention my new car. This is a stock photo, but it's the exact make and color of mine. A red Hyundai Elantra, 2025 model. I've decided to try leasing seeing how I don't travel as much as I used to.

 

The Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival

The Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival was this weekend. I left bright and early yesterday morning to get there by opening time, 10 am. The drive is about an hour and a quarter from my place. There were already many people queued up when I arrived at 9:30 am.

The half hour passed quickly in the idyllic setting of the Tunbridge fairgrounds, surrounded by the rolling Vermont hills with still some color in the leaves. (We peaked early this year which I imagine is do to the drought. We are still in an extreme drought situation.) In no time we were all passing through the gates in anticipation of all the wool goodies inside the grounds.

I had a short list of items I really wanted to find: A fleece, some wool fabric, maybe some roving, and a distaff. The first booth of importance to me was Green Mountain Hooked Rugs where a good selection of wool fabrics were on offer. Why do I want wool fabric? Because last month I purchased an unfinished, vintage, hooked rug on eBay for practically nothing. Reason for it being so inexpensive was that it had a few holes in the unhooked areas. But I know how to fix that. So I found all the colors I needed at the booth, in order to finish the rug. The yellow isn't quite the match I was hoping for, but Inktense colors can remedy that (I've already tested). This is the rug; I couldn't resist the colors and the charm of it:

The finished rug will be rectangular, 24" x 36". I have managed to find out quite a lot about the pattern, which tickles me. There's an inscription running around the canvas which reads, "An original design inspired by sister Sylvia's flower garden." Although a bit hard to read, I also made out "McGown" in the inscription. One of the several books on rug hooking in my library is titled "You Can Hook Rugs" by Pearl McGown, (c) 1951, and it has lots of pictures. Just on an off chance the design would appear in the book, I thumbed through all the pictures, and there it was, on page 52, a black and white photo! It's called "Flowerette" in the book. The caption reads, "Sister Sylvia used #346 Flowerette (24 x 36) for her first rug -- mainly because all of the flowers were picked from her garden -- and being one of those perfectionists her efforts were most gratifying!" How very cool!

The same booth was offering some hand hooked rugs for sale (some quite stratospherically pricey, as one would expect), but there was one vintage rug that I really liked, and being used, sported an affordable price. I do love these old rugs, and it came home with me.

This Wensleydale fleece was just what I was after. Not the breed specifically, but the size, crimp, and lock length. And the colors! This one will not be dyed. I can't wait to start processing it.

As for a roving, I found this hand dyed one irresistible. A mix of Merino wool and Tussah silk (Tussah comes from wild silk moths). Oh, so pretty. It should make a beautiful yarn.

A distaff was not to be found anywhere on the premises, that I could see. There is a strong likelihood I will attempt to make my own.

A successful trip! I was done shopping within an hour and by that time it was getting crowded, quite so. The weather may have accounted for the turn out, it was supposed to reach 80F! (Same today, tomorrow, and Tuesday as well.) So a visit to the animal shed, a bit of petting, and I was on my way home.

Part of the reason for leaving so early was due to the fact that my living room has been under construction all week and my time with Cielo (my hand raised Lovebird) was quite curtailed. I could tell Saturday evening that he was in need of quality time. So I came home to spend a fair amount of the day with him.

The living room... I had one wall that was covered in dark paneling cut down to wainscoting a few years ago, and I papered the top. Last week I had the same dark paneling removed from the opposite wall. The contractor should be finished by about Wednesday this week, and I will then paint the sheetrock. Here's what it looked like after he had removed the paneling and old insulation. The ceiling will be replaced next spring, hopefully.

A few final photos

 Taken in the garden.

Washed and blocked...

The Cormo (to my knowledge) is all spun up. 200.5 yards.

Playing Yarn Chicken

After I passed the half-way point of knitting the Celtic design on the shawl, I was pretty certain I would not have enough of my handspun yarn to finish it. So certain was I, that I ordered some dyes to start experimenting with to match the color. It looked like was going to have to spin up some white wool--which would not match the mohair/wool/alpaca blend the yarn contains--and dye it, getting as close as possible to the color of the yarn.

But to my great surprise, my handspun lasted up to the last 5 rows! Could not believe it.

I had saved the very first sample I made when trying to figure out how to spin this wool. It would be the right blend of fibers, the exact same colors, but it was 2-ply. (My original idea was to spin the whole thing 2-ply. It was only after some sampling that I decided 3-ply was better.) I cannot remember if this sample was spun long-draw or short-draw, neither of which produced a yarn I was happy with. (I finally went with modified long-draw.) It's not a pretty yarn, and it's thinner, but containing the right fibers and the right colors, I decided to use it to finish off the shawl. Saving my samplings was a good idea!

It saved the day!

The knitting is done! The last 5 rows of the edging in the upper left corner of the shawl contains the 2-ply. Can't tell!! Someone would have to know to look for it and would then need to find it. Made it by the skin of my teeth!

A few loose ends need weaving in and it needs to be washed and blocked. I'll post a photo when it is completely finished.

Yokey-dokey

 

The cardigan is so much more comfortable than when it was a pullover. The yoke is relaxed now and drapes much better. It's comfortable! And I love wearing it!

There is a slight hitch now with the button hole band. The formula I used to make the button holes has caused puckering, which is clearly visible between the bottom 3 buttons. Sigh. I'm probably going to take it out and re-do it using a different recipe for the holes.

The formula I used goes like this:

At the point where the hole begins, bring the yarn to the front.

Slip 1 stitch purlwise.

Bring the yarn to the back.

Slip 1 stitch purlwise and pass the first slipped stitch over. Repeat until 1 less than total stitches for the hole have been bound off.

Slip 1 stitch from right needle to left needle.

Turn work.

Cable cast on the total number of button hole stitches. Before putting last stitch on left needle, bring yarn to the front then place stitch on left needle.

Turn.

Slip 1 stitch knitwise.

Pass last cast on stitch over the slipped stitch.

It's not a priority to fix this because this will be worn mostly at home and possibly music class.

But I'm really happy with the results. It's delightful to wear now, and super warm. It will be perfect for those evenings when the outside temperature drops to zero or below.

Cardigan update and Christmas mushrooms

 I have knit a new collar on the pullover make over. I didn't want to buy new yarn because I have bins full, some of which may never be used by me. Who knows? So this soft, beautiful teal/black seems just right for the collar and button bands. Of course, it doesn't match the sleeve cuffs and waist band, but that's neither here nor there, I'm not entering it in a competition and it will be much more comfortable.

The button hole band got knit this morning, I just need to cast off. These buttons are just resting on the button holes to give a sense of what it will look like when finished. Just the button band remains, and a few small moth holes (ugh) to patch up. I've already patched up a few. They are really attracted to this wool.

I've been making some Christmas mushrooms out of Prosecco corks. I love Prosecco for those special occassions, like Friday evenings. ;) The "90+ Cellars" brand is my favorite and their corks happen to be a good shape for these. 

I start by sticking a toothpick in the bottom so it can be held while painting. Paint the top red, the stem white.

Add white dots.

Stick a jewelry thingie (I find them at Walmart in the beading section) in the top for later hanging.

I have to cut them a bit shorter so they don't stick out the bottom of the 'mushroom'.

Finally, I spray it with a coat of clear, matte finish acrylic sealer.

I'm going to hang these on a garland along with the dried orange slices I made last spring, some small pine cones from the yard, and possibly some cranberries. Or, I might make two different garlands, depending how busy the one looks.

A new spinning wheel

New, as in, new to me. It's actually a very old antique. It came up on eBay a month or so ago but I wasn't feeling like spending the amount asked. It was relisted a few weeks ago at almost half the original starting bid, so I went for it and was the only bidder.

It arrived via FedEx yesterday, from Vermont. The spindle is looking pretty sad. First thing I did after unpacking it was remove the spindle and give it some TLC.

This is a table top spindle wheel called "Purcells Improved" dated June 4, 1874. I've never seen one like it before and searching the webs comes up with nothing, nada.

Spindle wheels are an advancement from hand spindles, which go back to Neolithic times and maybe further. Spindle wheels are much older than flyer wheels, which I believe were invented in the late 15th century. Spindle wheels are quite simple: a drive wheel, a drive band, and a straight spindle. The straight spindle is the type that Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on (in the Grimm brothers version), despite so many illustrations depicting what look like flyer wheels. Great wheels are spindle wheels as are Indian charkas (made famous by Gandhi). They can spin very fast which makes them ideal for spinning short-length fibers like cotton or yak. They are also good for spinning "long draw" from carded wool.

Today, I cleaned the hardware (nuts & bolts and washers) by soaking in white vinegar for a couple hours then putting them in my small ultrasonic cleaner with a Simple Green solution for 8 minutes. Worked very well. Got rid of all the rust.

I cleaned the spindle and yarn guide with Gojo (mechanics hand cleaner--the one without pumice) and fine steel wool.

I cleaned the wheels with sewing machine oil (it’s surprising how well sewing machine oil is at cleaning).

Treated the wood with boiled linseed oil. I tested over the lettering first to make sure it wouldn’t destroy them.

The spindle still needs a little bit of straightening out, but it works pretty well, even if not perfectly straight.

I made a little demo video (it's only 2 minutes long) of what it can do so far. I have no idea if I’m using it as was intended, but it seems right.

I’m very happy with the result so far!

Best watched on Youtube...

It has a yarn guide that can swing in front of the spindle. I believe this is in aid of winding off the spindle when it is full.

Soap, Steeking, a Skein, and a Shawl ... Odds & Ends

 

Saturday was soap day. I have just a small sliver left of the one I made last October. I'm trying a new recipe this year, it's supposed to cure quicker. "Basic recipe three" from Country Living Handmade Soap (c)1998 Hearst Books. Coconut oil, Palm oil, and Olive oil. So far so good.

Last Thursday was not so good. My car got totaled. Other car flew down a hill ignoring stop sign into intersection, hitting my car on the driver's side and sending it over a three-foot wide curb into an adjacent parking lot. I'm fine, but it was a most unpleasant experience. Pretty much feeling my old self again and now waiting to hear from insurance adjuster.

I made this sweater a few years ago...

I haven't worn it much. It's very bulky, especially in the color work where there are sometimes 3 colors in the same row. The yarn, Lettlopi, is very 'scratchy' as well. Ran across it while cleaning my room a few weeks ago.

It's time to take the matter into hand. I put a lot of time into knitting it and it is, after all, quite a beautiful pattern: FJÖRÐUR, by Bergrós Kjartansdóttir.

Shocking as it may seem, I decided to steek it and turn it into a Cardigan. I undid the collar then, using a thinner yarn, hand 'serged' a row on either side of the vertical center line using a crochet hook (pickup and single crochet a chain), then took the scissors to it. Not as bad as it sounds. I think I will use the sewing machine to reinforce the cut edges before knitting a band and collar. I tried it on after cutting, and already it's more comfortable for me. One thing though: I'm going to use a different--softer--yarn for the new collar.

Crocheted 'serging' on both sides of center line.

Cut open, waiting for bands and new collar.

Another skein of the 'creamsicle' colored wool is spun up.

Cormo? Maybe.  49 yds. Chain ply.

I've been knitting up the Wellington Fibres wool/alpaca/mohair blend that I spun in July. I'm taking a chance that I have enough to knit Celtic Myths Fingering Shawl (pattern ©Asita Krebs) in the gauge I'm using. I think I will just sneak by, but if per chance I run out, I'll find a solution; will cross that bridge if we meet it.

Celtic Myths Fingering Shawl (pattern ©Asita Krebs)

Dyeing experiments and decisions

 

Tobacco Leaf Brown

I have dyed three 2-ounce samples of the Shetland wool that I recently scoured. Tobacco Leaf Brown will be the base of the heathered yarn I hope to make. The bulk of the wool will be dyed this color.

Forest Green and Cayenne Red

Forest Green and Cayenne Red are the auxiliary colors and I will need much less of them.

I used chemical dyes from the Dharma Trading Company, adhering to their recommended percentages of dye to wool: 1.5% to 2.0% the weight of wool for the amount of dye powder. Since I was dyeing only 2 ounces at a time, this meant a scant 3/8 of a teaspoon of dye for each bath (based on 1 tsp. = 1/8 ounce). I really needed 1/3 teaspoon but I don't have such a measure.

Following their recommended procedure, I soaked the wool (with a little no-rinse soap to ensure all--or most--traces of lanolin were gone). Put a stainless pot of water (with plenty of room for the wool) on the stove and turned up the heat. Diluted my dye powder in a little bit of boiling water then added that to the pot, followed by the pre-soaked wool. Brought the temperature up to 200 F (below the boiling point so as not to cause felting), then pushing the fiber to one side of the pot, added 1/8 cup of vinegar and let the whole thing cook for half an hour at around 200 F. It's a bit more vinegar than called for, but no harm. Very gently, I pushed the wool down several times during steeping, being ever so careful not to felt it.

I dyed the brown first and it was late in the afternoon by the time it was done cooking, so I left the wool in the pot overnight while it cooled. The dye was completely exhausted by the following morning (i.e. all the dye had been taken up by the wool). I'm very happy with the color and the dye job. The Cayenne Red was processed the same way, but I removed it from the pot after 5 or 6 hours. Another successful dye. The Forest Green came out with some mottling, an uneven dye distribution. Had this been for some other purpose I might have been displeased with the result, but since I'm making a heathered yarn, the uneven dyeing works to my advantage and I am happy!

Now on to some blending tests. This is unchartered waters for me and I'm going about it quite blindly. But I know what I want so I'm letting that guide me.

My drum carder

I took out the drum carder I bought 9 or 10 years ago and started running the wool onto it. First a good layer of brown then a scattering of red and green, following by more brown and more scatterings.

After the first pass through the carder, I got this batt:

First pass through the carder

Not bad, but the fibers need more carding. I tore up the batt and sent pieces of it through again resulting in batt number two:

Second pass through the carder

I like this quite a bit. Still, I wonder if it needed more carding, so I tore it up and sent it through the carder, making two more small batts.

Third pass through the carder (on right)

It seems to me that the third pass batts are too blended, the red and green disappear into the mix almost completely. Then I thought I'd run one of those back through the carder with the addition of more red and green bits, and that resulted in the fourth pass:

Fourth pass through the carder

OK, not bad. It's certainly carded enough. So I think my choices now are #2 or #4. But I will modify the process slightly by running the brown, alone, through the carder twice before adding the colored bits for passes three and four. Another test to do.

But. . . there is still the question of how I will prepare this for spinning. I can use my hand carders to turn the batts into rolags for modified long-draw spinning, and that will offer an opportunity to add red and green bits as needed, for good effect. On the other hand, if I decide to mount the batts on a distaff and spin from that, then these batts are the finished blend before becoming yarn.

I don't have a distaff yet and will probably wait for the Vermont Sheep & Wool next month to see if there are any available there. Or I could order from Etsy or eBay. Or decide to spin from rolags. There are probably even more choices that I'm not even aware of.

Lots of decisions go into making a yarn!! :)

A Mystery Spin

 

A hot mat doing it's job nicely at breakfast!

I've had this bit of roving for some time. I can no longer recall what breed of sheep it comes from, but if pressed, would guess Cormo. It is, when decompressed, very spongy with lots of spring. Although Targhee comes to mind, I'm pretty sure it's not that. So I'm saying Cormo, for now.

This picture was taken in natural light

The roving is pictured at right. After carding, the rolags are fluffy and light as air pictured top left. I spun two samples on the Country Craftsman wheel, both of which ended up more like string than yarn (bottom left). I tried to lessen the amount of twist on the second sample, but it still was not enough. Then I moved to one of my Kundert spindles (bottom center) and tada! Got the yarn I was seeking.

This picture was taken in artificial light

It spins up like a soufflé, so much loft! That's the first skein of 45.5 yards. Again, I'm chain plying on the fly, so I can only get so much into a skein. That's OK though, I don't mind smaller skeins; it's faster to wind them into balls!

In general, my spinning is improved from the days of NYC spinning. I am not adding so much twist, resulting in yarn that has a better "hand", in my opinion.

I have a movie that Norman Kennedy made, called "From Fleece to Wool". I rewatched it last month and it sunk in that less twist can result in a better yarn.

Norman Kennedy is a well-known spinner and weaver from Vermont and started a weaving school there. He hails from Scotland, where he learned his trade. The school was called the Marshfield School of Weaving in Marshfield, Vermont. It has since relocated and goes by the name The Newbury School of Weaving. I recently discovered that it's not too far from where I live. Oh, boy!

The tale of a rescued Fair Isle knit

 

I knit this much of a scarf, in the round, three years ago. The gauge I worked with was not the one specified for the pattern, hence my tubular scarf was knitting up much wider and bulkier than designed. I really loved my color choices, but knew I would end up not wearing it because it was so heavy. So I stopped knitting it.

Too pretty to frog (frogging stranded isn't my cup of tea either) or toss, I ended up stitching up the seam with the sewing machine and cutting it open into one large rectangle. I thought it might make a nice lap throw, but it wasn't quite large enough for that. So it got put upstairs to wait for another day.

I was re-arranging my room over the weekend and came across it, now containing a moth hole or two. Oh drat! I was this close to throwing it away, but couldn't do it. Then, having been influenced and inspired by watching many videos on spinning, dyeing, and knitting and weaving, I had a eureka moment: felt it! Then I'd be able to cut it up into coasters and table mats for hot dishes. Fab idea! So I tossed it in the washing machine then the drier. Since it wasn't as felted as I wanted, I tossed it in a tub with soapy water and massaged it well, till I got the desired amount of felting.

On the chopping block it went. I cut out ten coasters, 2 smaller table mats, and one large table mat. I'm finishing the edges with tapestry wool in blanket stitch. I've only gotten 6 of the coasters and 1 of the small mats edged so far, and I'm really pleased with them. They have a hand-made, make-do wonkiness that is charming and warm. And they work great.

8" x 6.5"

The large mat which is not yet edged is about 23" x 14":

And the second small mat is about 10.5" x 6.25":

The four unfinished coasters are not the same color as the 6 above:

A sad tale turned around. I couldn't be happier with my decision.